


Always and Forever

by dreamscomeslow



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 02:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4461641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamscomeslow/pseuds/dreamscomeslow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soulmate AU where people age until they reach 18 and then stop aging until they meet their soul mate so they can grow old together.</p><p>When Thomas realizes his best friend, Newt - who he has a crush on - has been growing old, he wonders who is his soul mate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always and Forever

**Author's Note:**

> I have an undying love for Soulmates AU (this one came from [tumblr](http://reliquiaen.tumblr.com/post/116987330899/), btw). This is way longer than I thought it would be, sorry.  
> As always, English isn't my native language, apologies for the mistakes...
> 
> Enjoy!

Thomas sighed deeply when he read the umpteenth message from Minho. The Asian boy was reminding him, once again, to look through the pictures with Teresa. Minho had been planning a surprise birthday party for Newt for a couple of weeks already and he had asked – or rather forced – all his friends to participate. Frypan was in charge of the food and Gally of the alcohol, Brenda was taking care of the room where they’ll celebrate and its decoration with Minho, Alby and Chuck were supposed to do everything to make sure Newt would not become suspicious, and Thomas and Teresa had to make a slideshow with pictures from baby Newt to almost-22-years-old Newt.

When Thomas had heard his friend’s idea, he had been a little jealous. Of course, he had also planned to do something for Newt’s 22th birthday but Minho had caught him off-guard by starting to prepare the surprise _two_ months before the actual date. Now, Thomas had to recognize Minho was probably way better at organizing than he would ever be, and he was grateful he wasn’t the one in charge of everything.

Thomas dropped his phone next to him on the couch and turned towards the pile of boxes and photo albums. Teresa had always been passionate about photography so ever since she had received a professional camera for her 18th birthday, you could be sure she had it with her all the time, ready to take pictures at any moment. The problem was, once she had developed those pictures, she never took the time to class them even though she had tons of album photos. As a result, it usually ended up in boxes, in a mess.

With another sigh, Thomas took one box and begun to bring out pictures. In addition to the slideshow which was supposed to be a bit funny, Teresa had had the great idea to make an album for Newt with pictures of him and all his friends during their college years. However, she had left it to Thomas to do it saying he would be the best to choose the right pictures as he was Newt’s best friend. Thomas had rolled his eyes at the excuse but had accepted anyway because he knew Teresa was better than him with computers and would probably do a wonderful job with the slideshow. Now that he saw the impressive number of boxes and pictures, Thomas wasn’t so sure anymore it had been a good idea.

The first pictures were from last Christmas, being almost nine months ago. It was the first time the gang – except for Chuck who was too young to stay - had spent this holiday together, given they usually came home for it. On the 23rd, they had played strip poker and on the pictures, you could clearly see who had won. Minho was standing with his arms up in victory, still wearing his jeans and shoes. Next to him, Alby and Brenda were laughing, respectively wearing jeans, and a sweater and tights. On the floor, Gally, Ben, Frypan, Thomas and Teresa were sitting in their underwear. Newt, as for him, was covered with a blanket. Despite his red nose, he had a big smile on his face.

Thomas laughed at the sight of Gally’s sullen face. He had been one of the first to loose, him who was usually good at poker. Thomas couldn’t say the same thing for him, he was used to lose at this game but he didn’t mind. He often paired off with Newt then and made him loose too even though the blond was rather good at it. The brunet had to admit that he sometimes did it on purpose so he could talk with Newt without him being focused on the game. That night had been one of these times, and by pity for his friend who happened to have a cold, Thomas had given him a blanket to cover up when Newt had ended up in his underwear himself.

Thomas put these pictures on the side, already having decided to put them in the album. It had been a great night and they all had kept a good memory of it, he was sure Newt would love to see it in the album. The brunet then browsed the other pictures of this holiday, selecting some to keep – the incredible dinner they had on Christmas thanks to Frypan, the opening of the presents a few hours later, the party they went to for New Year’s Eve, and the drunken karaoke they had at 5am back in their dorm, on the first day of the New Year. Thomas stopped in his sorting at the sight of a picture which had been taken on their last day of holiday. The gang had decided to skate at the temporary ice skating rink of the city. Newt hadn’t skated in years and was a bit clumsy on the ice so Thomas, who was an expert, had helped him.

On the picture, Newt’s arms were outstretched in an effort to keep his balance. Thomas’ arm was on his waist, barely touching him. The brunet felt his cheeks blush, they almost looked like a couple. He remembered he had done this to guide Newt and at the time already, he had felt it was a bit too much. This could have revealed the giant crush Thomas had on his best friend and when Teresa had appeared in front of them with her camera, he had quickly removed his arm. _Apparently, not quickly enough,_ Thomas thought. Of course, he couldn’t put this picture in the album. Instead, he chose a picture of the entire gang on the ice which had been taken by a kind mother who had brought her kids to the skating rink. Slightly hesitant at first, Thomas also decided to keep the picture of Newt and him for himself. After all, Teresa probably wouldn’t even notice it was missing and even if she did, she had it on her computer.

The rest of the pictures in that same box were dated from Christmas to the beginning of the summer.  Thomas chose pictures of Teresa’s birthday that they had celebrated at her home causing a big sleepover for the weekend. They had eaten ice cream because the cake had been eaten by the dog which had later thrown up next to Brenda. In one of the pictures, you could see Brenda’s disgusted face while Minho and Alby were laughing their asses off on the other end of the couch where they had all try to fit in.

At some point, Thomas had to take Brenda on his lap to avoid sitting on Newt’s, who was placed right next to him. Their entire sides were touching and Thomas had begun to feel his body heating up. However, the tactics had only worked for awhile since Thomas had to sleep next to Newt on the same mattress that night. The brunet was suspecting Minho was to blame since he was the one who came to wake them up the next morning, almost looking disappointed that clearly nothing had happened. Thomas was pretty sure his friend was aware of the big crush he had on Newt, even though they had never talked about it.

Thomas added pictures of Brenda and Alby studying in a park with Teresa to the pile, as well as pictures of Minho, Newt, and himself asleep on a table at the library where they were supposed to revise for their imminent exams. He also picked photos of the huge water fight organized by the students, which occurred right after the end of the exams. Before he changed of box, Thomas selected pictures he had taken with Teresa’s camera on the day they got their results – Teresa with tears of joy in her eyes, Newt hugging her, both happy for himself and his friends, Alby on the phone with his mother, Brenda and Minho high fiving in the back.

The next box was containing photos from their second and third years of college – Brenda getting her first tattoo, the gang surrounding Minho and Thomas after their relay’s victory, Teresa doing Alby’s makeup for Halloween, Minho on the floor with Newt, both laughing like crazy, after he had tackled him in a hug because he loved the gift the blond had offered him for his birthday, the gang in Gally’s pickup, in its way to a memorable concert…

Thomas happily opened another box when he was done with the previous one, glad to see that there was some kind of order in the pictures. The first photos dated back to Teresa and his’ last year of high school – a trip to the lake, an outing to the local funfair – and especially, pictures of their prom. Teresa and Thomas had been friends since they were children and when Thomas’ girlfriend at the time had broken up with him a few weeks before the prom, Teresa hadn’t hesitated to drop her plans to go with her friend. Thomas laughed at the memory of how disastrous the night had been. He had lost his jacket at some point of the evening and a clumsy boy had spilled the punch over Teresa’s dress. In the end, they hadn’t stayed long at the party, preferring to get back to the brunette’s house. Thomas reached the bottom of the box, hoping he would find photos of their first year of college since it was the last box remaining. He wasn’t disappointed when he found pictures in the middle of articles. At the time, Teresa had joined the team of the journal as photographer and, as a result, she had quite a lot of pictures of all kind of people – some Thomas knew, some he didn’t. She had dragged her friend with her and the brunet had eventually agreed to write articles to go with the photos.

The boy selected a picture of Brenda, taken for an article about science students, one of Gally and one of Minho and himself, that article was about sports in general as Gally was in the wrestling team and Minho and Thomas had met in the running team. He also picked pictures of various parties where he and Teresa had encountered Ben, Zart and Frypan as well as other people who became their friends. Those pictures had been taken later, for a big article about parties in college which had never seen the day since Thomas had quitted the journal.

Some of the last photos dated of their first summer of college. The entire gang, which had been formed during the year, had gone to the beach for a week. It had been one of Thomas’ best weeks of the year and it’s with a fond smile on his face that he chose several pictures of that holiday.

The brunet was about to close the box when he noticed a few photos he hadn’t seen before, hidden under the others. Curious, he seized them and frowned. There was a picture of Alby, one of Newt and one of himself with an arm around Newt’s shoulder. The first two had been taken at the very beginning of the year, the other later that same year. Thomas was supposed to write an article about students who were far away from their family and had to work concurrently at their studies to support themselves. Alby had been one of the first students he had interviewed but quickly the boy had wanted to stop because _Thomas was asking too much questions._ What kind of reporter would I be if I didn’t?, Thomas had thought but he hadn’t insisted even though he was supposed to finish the paper for the next morning.

That night, Newt, who had heard about the problem, had come to Thomas to help him by replacing Alby in the article. The boys were in the same situation and Newt wanted to apologize for his best friend’s behavior. Thomas and Newt had talked the whole night, the brunet taking notes before he forgot about it, focusing only on Newt. They had immediately connected and a few weeks later, they were best friends as the third picture showed.

In itself, the photos were nice, even if a bit formal for the portraits, and Thomas had already decided to add them to the album but something was bothering him, and he wasn’t able to put his finger on it. After a few minutes of intense studying, he finally realized what was wrong and promptly got up.

***

“Those are very nice pictures, Thomas. But I’m not going to approve all the photos that go in the album, you know? First of all, because that was your idea, and secondly, if I put you in charge of something, it’s so I don’t have to do it.” Minho declared, looking unimpressed. He had barely looked at the photos Thomas had shown him, more interested by the computer next to him, on the bed where he was lying.

“It was Teresa’s idea, but that’s not the point. I told you I was taking care of the album. Can you just look at these photos and tell me if you notice something?” Thomas asked, clearly annoyed at his friend’s behavior.

Minho raised an eyebrow as he remarked Thomas’ irritation. He sighed but sat properly and took the pictures. There was a silence as Minho studied the photographs, and then, he looked back at Thomas questioningly.

“What am I suppose to look at exactly?”

“Newt.” Thomas blurted. “Don’t you think he look different?”

“Well, of course, he’s different. One of these pictures was taken at the beginning of college and the other one, a few months ago. Everyone changes in three years of college.”

“Yeah, I know. But, I mean, he looks _older._ ” Thomas said, fidgeting and making sure his eyes didn’t met Minho’s.

The Asian boy returned his attention to the pictures and whispered. “ _Oh.”_  He seemed to realize what Thomas was saying but his reaction wasn’t what the brunet had expected. Indeed, Minho simply shrugged before returning the pictures and stating. “I guess one lucky boy found his soul mate.”

“That’s all you have to say? Aren’t you curious to know who it is? And why do you think Newt didn’t tell us?”

“I don’t know, man. Maybe he hasn’t realized yet, it’s more common that you think. And it’s kind of logical when you’re not in couple.” Minho answered, lying down again and turning his attention back to his computer, informing the conversation was over.

Thomas rolled his eyes but didn’t say a thing. As he was about to leave Minho’s bedroom, he heard his friend call him.

“You know, Thomas, maybe Newt isn’t the only one who aged unconsciously.”

Thomas stopped in his tracks but when Minho didn’t continue, he simply sighed and kept on walking, not sure what his friend meant and not interested enough to ask.

***

Thomas had tossed and turned in his bed for hours before he finally fell asleep. He had pondered for a long time whether he should call Newt but had decided against it. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it – even though it was, you didn’t meet your soul mate everyday! – and had realized it was best if he talked about it with his friend in person in case he didn’t know he had met his soul mate yet, as Minho had suggested.

During his insomnia, Thomas had considered his friend’s words. Minho had declared Newt hadn’t been the only one to age after looking at the pictures. Therefore, the brunet took a close look at them. The first one was him and Newt in a bar, one of their first pictures together. The second one was of the entire gang at a party. The light wasn’t the best but the features of their faces were still visible. Thomas was sitting next to Newt, both smiling and a little drunk, and suddenly it hit Thomas. Minho was talking about him – he had aged as well during his college years.

The surprise quickly gave way to acceptance and Thomas had to admit he had been lying to himself for a while now. In the middle of his second year of college, he had to stop denying that his feelings for Newt were more than friendship but he had thought it was just a stupid crush – not that the blond was his soul mate! However, it made sense in a way. The brunet’s feelings hadn’t changed in two years and he didn’t thought it would change anytime soon. Who else than the blond could be his soul mate?

The real question was, who was Newt’s? Thomas didn’t recall the blond mentioning having feelings for anyone and he hadn’t been in a serious relationship for over two years. Maybe he genuinely didn’t know he had met his soul mate. As Minho stated, it was not unusual. People who met a lot of people, like in college, could meet their soul mate and then not talk to them for years. It even happened that some people thought they were with their soul mate because they were aging with them when their soul mate was in fact their neighbor they had talked to once in their life.

***

A few days later, Thomas and Minho were back in college, ready for a new year. Thomas had dropped his bags on his bed before heading towards Newt and Alby’s bedroom. He knew the blond had arrived in the morning and he had tried to force Minho to leave earlier but the boy wouldn’t yield. Apparently, he had planned an entire program according to the weather, the traffic and other things Thomas didn’t even know mattered for a simple trip.

Thomas knocked on the door and waited for a muffled voice to answer before coming in. Newt was sitting on his bed, his belongings surrounding him. When he saw his friend, he promptly got up to hug him.

“Tommy! How are you? I was just about to leave for the school administration office, there’s something with my schedule. Don’t you mind?” Newt said, heading for the door.

Thomas shook his head. “No problem. I’m fine, what about you? You look so tanned! Did you go to the beach every day?”

“Ah, yes. You know my sister, when she has something in mind, she won’t let go of it. She dragged me to the beach every morning. I don’t know how someone can love getting sand everywhere that much. How about you? Wasn’t the cohabitation with Minho too hard?”

“After three years of sharing the same room, you’d say we wouldn’t have any problem to share an apartment but you would be wrong! I’m already done with him, I don’t know how I’m going to put up with this guy one more year.”

Newt snickered, when Thomas wasn’t complaining about Minho, the Asian boy was grumbling about his friend. Despite their quarrels – often about Minho’s tidiness and Thomas’ messiness – the two boys had become great friends over the years. Running in the same team had certainly helped.

“Do you want to sleep in my bedroom tonight? Alby is staying a little longer with his family and won’t be here for another few days.”

They had arrived in front of the office of the school life where surprisingly there weren’t too many people. They stood in line and Thomas considered his friend’s proposition. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d have a sleepover – when Alby was staying with a girl or when Minho needed the bedroom for himself, Thomas would usually go to Newt’s bedroom – and it would give him an opportunity to talk about the whole soul mate thing. He knew Newt was more open to discuss serious subjects when he was tired, or drunk.

“Sure, that will give me a break.” Thomas responded, and he was glad to have a chance to speak with Newt soon enough. However, he realized he had no idea what he wanted to tell him. Thomas decided to put out a feeler, an idea crossing his mind. “What about Alby, did you see each other a lot these holidays?”

Newt shrugged. “As usual, almost every day. It’s rather hard not to see someone when you live next to each other.”

In response, Thomas simply hummed. Newt and Alby had been living next to each other, in the same little town, for twenty years now, besides being roommates during college. “Don’t you get fed up with him sometimes though?”

The line moved forward and the students followed.

“Sure, like everyone, but we get along pretty well so it’s okay, I guess.” Newt shrugged again and there was no way Alby was his soul mate, Thomas thought. It just didn’t make sense. Plus, he had never seen Newt acting like more than a friend towards Alby – unlike Thomas with Newt, like with the ice skating incident.

“What about Minho?”

“What about him?”

“I don’t know, how would feel being his roommate?”

“Minho and I?” Newt laughed hysterically, causing the girl in front of them to glare at them over her shoulder. Thomas rolled his eyes, class hadn’t started yet and they weren’t even in the library! “If you want us to kill each other, then I guess it’s a good idea.” Newt continued, not paying attention to the girl. “What’s with all these questions anyway? Are you thinking about changing roommate? Tommy, I won’t move in with Minho, I’m not kidding. I love the guy but this is not happening! Do you remember what happened when we had to share a hotel room for _one_ night?”

It was Thomas’ time to laugh at how panicked the blond was. “It was a disaster.” Thomas stated, remembering Newt knocking on his door in the middle of the night because Minho was impossible to wake up and kept snoring loudly.

“Exactly. This is not bloody happening.” Newt mumbled more for himself than for his friend.

The girl had disappeared and it was now Newt’s time to settle his schedule problem.

***

After getting a snack at the cafeteria, Thomas had returned to his bedroom to unpack his stuff. Since Newt had already done this in the morning, he stayed with him and they talked of their respective holidays and their future year at college. After greeting Newt, Minho had seemingly disappeared, leaving Thomas and Newt alone in the room. The brunet hadn’t tried to guess who Newt’s soul mate was again preferring to wait for the night, but he couldn’t help but wonder who it was every time Newt texted on his phone.

As night fell, the two friends left the bedroom to eat at their favorite pizzeria and then get a drink at a bar mostly frequented by students. They didn’t stay out long though, Thomas feeling tired after the trip and the unpacking. Since it was the end of the summer, the atmosphere was warm even at night and Newt opened the window in the bedroom as they changed to get into bed.

Thomas was so tired, he knew it would only take him a few seconds to fall asleep but he didn’t want to without asking Newt what he had meant to all day.

“Are you sleeping?” A smile crept in Thomas’ face when he heard Newt’s whisper. The blond rarely started the conversation, Thomas usually talking too much all the time so that there is a beginning of conversation.

“No.” Thomas simply answered, knowing Newt would continue.

“I think Alby found his soul mate.”

There was a silence and Thomas felt his entire body tense.

“Tommy?”

“Yeah, I’m not sleeping.” There was another brief lull in the conversation. “How do you know?”

“I’m not sure but he met that girl at the beginning of summer and over the weeks he seemed to change. I don’t know, he looks like he really likes her.”

Thomas wiggled in his bed, uncomfortable. He didn’t expect the subject of soul mate to be brought up like this.

“I’ve read tons of stories about two people loving each other like crazy without actually being soul mate.”

Newt sighed. “Yeah, I know. Those stories are always so depressing, especially when the couple realize they didn’t grow old together. The worst is probably when only one of them grew old.” The blond added, suddenly sounding extremely sad.

“Also when none of them realize they’re soul mate until it’s too late…” Thomas’ heart tightened, hoping more than ever that Alby wasn’t Newt’s soul mate. _Please, it can be everyone but not a friend!_ “Do you think sometimes we might already have met our soul mate?” The words escaped before Thomas could think about it.

“I’m pretty sure I already met mine.”

“Oh.” _So he knew he had been aging._ Thomas closed his eyes. Now, he just wanted to forget that conversation ever happened and disappear. He’d rather tell himself that Newt didn’t know anything about his soul mate and as such, he could still pretend that he had a slight chance with the blond – even if he’d never take it.

“Tommy?”

Thomas opened up his eyes and cleared his throat before turning around in the bed to look at Newt. “Yeah?”

“I think I’m in love with you. Actually, I’m pretty sure I am. And I also believe you might be my soul mate.”

Thomas felt his entire body heat up and blood pound in his ears. He stayed silent until he heard Newt calling him again. “Tommy, are you mad?” There was sadness in his voice but also something that sounded like resignation. Thomas wanted to make it all go away, to tell him he wasn’t mad at all but on the contrary, so happy, he couldn’t believe it. Newt was in love with _him._

The brunet wanted to jump in the air and sing of happiness. Instead, a cheerful laugh escaped his lips. Thomas realized he was sitting on the edge of his bed and Newt had imitated him, looking worried in the dark room only lighted by the ray of light under the door.

“I’m not mad at all. I love you too, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m convinced that you’re my soul mate.” The answer finally came and Newt let out a sigh of relief.

“Bloody hell, Tommy, you scared me to death not saying a-” The blond was cut off by Thomas’ lips pressed on his, the brunet quickly getting up to silence Newt with a kiss.

***

A month later, Newt got a beautiful photo album, besides many other gifts, for his birthday. Among the pictures of himself and his friends, he had the joy to discover a photo of himself and Thomas ice skating. The blond couldn’t help but smile; that was the exact moment he had realized the significance of his feelings for Thomas.


End file.
